Four men were arrested recently on suspicion of beating a man to death over a drug dispute, putting his body in a large toolbox and burying the box in the desert near Kearny three years ago.

Paul Goga, 33, and Gilbert Evora, 30, were booked into jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, while Javier Santos, 34, and Joshua McGuire, 31, were arrested on suspicion of hindering and abandonment or concealment of a dead body, according to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

A hunter discovered a toolbox partially buried near East Florence Kelvin Highway near Arizona 177 in Kearny on Jan. 16, 2011, authorities said. When the hunter opened the box, a body was inside.

Kearny is located about 22 miles from Superior in eastern Pinal County.

The body was of a middle-aged man and had obvious signs of trauma. The Medical Examiner’s Office autopsy revealed the death was a homicide, said Tim Gaffney, a spokesman for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.

Detectives determined the motive was related to a drug debt, Gaffney said.

Authorities suspect Goga and Evora devised a plan to kill the victim sometime between March and November of 2009. Goga drove the victim to a residence in the 200 block of Hartford Street in Kearny where Evora was waiting inside with a baseball bat, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

When the victim was brought inside, investigators suspect Evora beat the victim with a baseball bat and Goga kicked him until the victim died, Gaffney said.

The victim’s body was wrapped in plastic and placed in a toolbox that fits in the bed of a pickup truck. Authorities suspect Santos and McGuire took the toolbox to the remote desert area near Kearny, where they buried it, Gaffney said.

Detectives have not yet been able to identify the victim, but are still working on doing so, Gaffney said.

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